Jim Meehan

Over the course of the next series of posts I’m going to share the recipes of some of the luminaries that attend, and mix drinks at, Tales of the Cocktail.

One of my favorite events at Tales every year is the Cocktail Hour, an event that gathers the who’s who of the cocktail world into one room, and then forces them to make alcoholic beverages for lucky chumps like me. Now normally I would walk around the room taking pictures of each bar star, note their recipe and post here. Unfortunately this year the lighting in the rooms was quite poor, and I’m a horrible photographer of people, so the combination of both ensured that many of my pictures did not turn out. To add to my incompetence, this year Tales didn’t offer cards detailing the recipes at each table, in an effort to boost sales of this year’s Tales Cocktail Book I suspect. This would have been fine and dandy, but unfortunately all the recipes didn’t make it into the book so some drinks were omitted due to this lack of recipe. Anywho, enough compunctions, let’s get to our first bartender deity of the series and his recipes.

From his Tales biography we get this about Jim Meehan:

Jim Meehan’s career in the restaurant business began in 1995 while studying English Literature and African American Studies at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He worked his way from doorman to manager at both State Street Brats and Paul’s Club between bartending stints at The Great Dane and Café Montmartre.

One year after receiving his diploma in 2001, he moved to New York City and landed his first job at Five Points Restaurant on Great Jones Street. Two years later, he opened Pace, an ambitious Italian restaurant where he managed the bar and worked on the floor as a sommelier. When Pace closed, he spent over two years rebuilding the cocktail program at Gramercy Tavern while shaking drinks for renowned mixologist and mentor, Audrey Saunders at The Pegu Club. He currently runs PDT, a hidden cocktail lounge in the East Village where his work has been recognized by rising star awards from Star Chefs in 2007 and Cheers Magazine in 2009.

In addition to his work behind the bar, Jim is a contributing editor of Food & Wine Magazine’s annual cocktail book, Mr. Boston’s Bartender Guide and Sommelier Journal, a monthly trade magazine that features his bartender column. He has developed cocktails for numerous spirits companies, lectured at local and international trade shows and works as a wine and spirits educator.

Jim and his cocktails have been featured in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, New York Magazine, Time Out New York, Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, Imbibe, Details, The Malt Advocate and Wine Enthusiast.

Unfortunately, what the Tales website does not say is how great and down to earth of a guy Jim is. He always has a smile on his face and always has an ear to lend; not easy feats when you consider how many people want a piece of his time. It is thanks to Jim that I was able to work on this year’s Food & Wine 2009 Cocktail Guide and have drinks in two editions of Mr. Boston Bartender’s Guide. He was even kind enough to name a drink after me and put it on his menu at PDT. If that wasn’t enough for you, he had to go and win this year’s American Bartender of the Year at Tales. It’s almost enough to make you want to hate the guy, but to do so would be an act of foolishness and unnecessary jealousy, so instead you should just mix up one of his concoctions and toast Jim, who, for one day at least, was King of New York.

This was probably my favorite event at Tales this year as well. I thought it was improved over last year, at least partly due to the different location.

There is something particularly wonderful about being able to wander through a building and have drinks made by the bartenders and mixologists from all over the world that you often think you’ll only be able to read about.

Wow! The Burke’s cup. One of the best uses of absinthe I’ve seen in a while. The taste is still there but doesn’t overpower ( I used Kubler) and plays nice with all other ingredients. I made this up as opposed on the rocks and it still tasted great.

I love your website, Jamie! I’m a long term lurked but finally I bought that coveted bottle of St Germain and made the Duboudreau Cocktail. I have to say it is delicious! When I was stirring the drink I couldn’t believe the complexity of aromas. I was getting white grape skin notes and even a bit of mintiness and when the lemon twist drops in it really binds the drink. Delicious. Thank you for laying the foundations for this fantastic cocktail

I like the Senor. Good mix of tequila and lime juice. Jaime, I was wondering if you could check out the list I’m compiling of drink recipes? Any additions would be much appreciated. Find the Best Drink Recipes

[…] and influential barmen, and co-owner of one of the core bars in the craft-cocktail universe, Jim Meehan is now author of a cocktail guide that’s bound to be so definitive of a mixological moment and so […]